BSG Solicitors in Lancaster has been recognised by Cancer Research UK after facilitating over £297,000 worth of gifts from people choosing to leave a legacy to the charity in their will. 

Rebecca Lauder and her team were presented with a Bronze certificate by the charity in acknowledgement of the firm’s ongoing support. BSG Solicitors have been offering the Free Will Service to people in the Lancaster area for the past 20 years, giving advice and support for those wishing to write a will or update an existing one. Recently the age criteria has been widened and is now available to anyone aged 18 or over.

As part of the service BSG gives free guidance for those wishing to leave a legacy gift for Cancer Research UK.

The charity receives no government funding for its research and relies heavily on the generosity of people leaving gifts in their wills. Over a third of its research into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer is funded through supporters leaving a legacy to the charity.

Rebecca Lauder, Partner and Wills & Probate Solicitor at BSG, said:

“We are very proud to have been one of the first law firms to join the free wills scheme over 20 years ago and look forward to continuing our relationship for years to come. In the last 12 months alone our clients pledged nearly £20,000 of legacy gifts to Cancer Research UK and with the scheme now being open to anyone over 18 we expect this to increase in 2020.”

A legacy gift can be anything someone wishes to leave in their will. Traditionally this is money, but it could be anything that has a monetary value such as land, property or a specific item. Anything left to Cancer Research UK will be free of tax and can be marked to be ring-fenced for research into a specific cancer type or research within a local area.

Clare Moore, Director of Legacies at Cancer Research UK, explained: “We all reach a stage at some point in our lives where we start to look ahead and consider what will happen to our financial affairs in the future, when we may no longer be around.

“At Cancer Research UK, we work with a number of local solicitors including BSG Solicitors to offer local people aged 18 or over the chance to make an all-important first will or to update an existing one. The service has grown in popularity over the past couple of years and while it is provided free of any obligation, most people choose to kindly leave a gift to the charity.

“By offering Cancer Research UK’s Free Will Service the team at BSG have become well informed about our work and are very supportive of our life-saving research. Whenever their clients express a desire to support us, their team act with great sensitivity as they explain the various options and allow individuals or families to make the right choice in their own good time.

“It’s quite astonishing to think that by simply combining enthusiasm with the highest professional standards BSG has helped secure over £297,000 worth of legacy gifts, which will go a long way towards helping our scientists, doctors and nurses to beat cancer sooner.”

Cancer survival in the UK has doubled since the early 1970s and Cancer Research UK’s work has been at the heart of that progress. Every step taken by its doctors, nurses and scientists relies on donations from the public and the kindness of supporters who choose to leave a gift in their will.

For more information on the scheme or to make your appointment please call 01524 386500.

Pictured L-R Helen Soutar, Rose Metcalfe, Rebecca Lauder, Ruth Woodhouse.